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News 12 Staff

LI 10pmJennaColdCaseUpdate_2026-02-12-22-04-59

And tonight arrest in a 1993 cold case. It involves the death of a child found in a Calverton field. And News Twelve's Jenna Ray Gartner is here now with this with this developing story, Jenna. That's right guys. Police arrested Denise Reichman Merker last Monday. Her attorney confirms that she's being charged with one count of murder in connection with a cold case involving the death of an infant. Back in 1993, News 12 reported that a newborn baby was found dead in a trash bag along Route 25. State highway workers found the bag in a field across from the former Grumman Airport. Now, 33 years later, there's a suspect. One retired NYPD detective tells News 12 that when cases like these come back around, police have to reinvestigate from the beginning. They gathered evidence back then, even though we didn't have the technology to test it. If they got fingerprints, swabs, DNA that they stored somewhere, now because of all the genealogical technology that we can use, the DNA databases that we have, we can compare that information now, uh, and, and it looks like it's working and we're being able to identify suspects and perpetrators from cases 2030 years ago. Investigators have not yet said how they are linking Merker to the case. She pled not guilty during her arraignment last week and will be back in court again Tuesday.

https://vod.prod.alticeustech.com/transcode/57a77573-81d0-4a0f-a928-e08361b0e24d/57a77573-81d0-4a0f-a928-e08361b0e24d.transcribe

The attorney for Denise Reischman Merker says she was arrested last week and charged with murder.

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